Less than two months before Donald Trump returns to the White House, Ukraine on Tuesday put pressure on NATO to be invited to join it, without concrete results following a dinner between business ministers foreign countries of the alliance and Ukraine.
“There has been no progress,” admitted the head of Lithuanian diplomacy Gabrielius Landsbergis, questioned by several journalists after this dinner attended by the ministers of the 32 NATO countries and the head of the Ukrainian diplomacy Andriï Sybiga.
The latter, however, insisted upon his arrival in Brussels on the need to move forward on the path to his country’s accession to NATO, “the only real” guarantee of security against Russia, according to kyiv.
Reluctant countries, the United States in particular
Very cautious, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte contented himself before this dinner with reiterating the principled position of the Alliance. The process leading to Ukraine’s accession is “irreversible”, he reminded the press, without however mentioning a timetable.
Ukraine wants to approach a possible peace negotiation with Russia from a position of strength and with sufficient security guarantees. “The only effective security guarantee is NATO membership for Ukraine,” assured the head of Estonian diplomacy Margus Tsahkna on this point.
Several countries in the alliance, led by the United States, are however reluctant to make this “monumental decision”, as a diplomat in Brussels described it.
Swiss
